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Warm Winter Meals…my go-to’s

11 Dec

I AM FREEZING!

Let’s you and me warm up with some cozy winter meals. I am rounding up a few of my go-to warm recipes that I find myself craving again and again.

Chicken Marbella: This chicken never fails to please…makes the house smell so cozy!

African G-Nut Stew: Savory recipes that call for peanut butter make me swoon.

Green n’ Yellow Risotto: Nothing screams warmth like a piping hot bowl of creamy risotto.

Mushroom Etc. and Sausage Ragu over Polenta: Cheesy polenta + Savory Sausage + Quickly Sauteed Veg

Lasagna! Layered pasta filled with veggies, basil, and ricotta. With a touch of fresh nutmeg for good measure.

Minestrone Soup. Warm broth, hearty beans, crusty bread.

Quiche. The savory pie that can be eaten morning, noon, or night.

Get your ovens preheating and your stove-tops flaming because it is time to warm things up for the cold winter ahead of us.

Dinner Party For Rosh Hashanah

3 Oct

An excuse to have friends over for dinner and to cook a hearty Jewish meal… The menu:

  • Round Challah Bread, Roasted Garlic
  • Apples Dipped in Honey (Catskill Provision Honey)
  • Chicken with Figs
  • Israeli Couscous with Pomegranate Seeds, Feta, Chickpeas, Cucumber, Radishes, and more
  • Quick Asparagus and Green Bean Saute
  • Wine
  • Root

A small glimpse of the meal:

Pretty Pretty Blue Hydrangeas

Round Challah Bread; Apple Walnut Cake

Couscous Salad in the Making…(pre-couscous)

Flowers, Apples & Honey, Couscous Salad

Kosher Chicken #1 in the Pyrex, Before Baking

Kosher Chicken #2 in Cast-Iron, After Baking

Quick Green Bean Saute

Dinner is Served, Come & Get It

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For…Honey Ice Cream!

Rugelach, Homemade Jewish Cookies…you can’t just eat one

And there you have it. Just a small taste of the lovely meal that was enjoyed by many.

Israeli Couscous Salad + NY Eating (Diner) + Sloppy Joes + Oven Mishaps/Over-Cheesing

23 Aug

Today I went on a lunch date with an old friend. We ate at a great restaurant right near the Williamsburg bridge in Brooklyn. Diner. We sat outside on the patio with a delightful sunny breeze drifting by. Our server was quite the charmer, he even sat down at our table as he described the menu items, which included rabbit terrine, fried green tomato and egg sandwich on brioche, fried chicken with a biscuit and homemade peach jam, and bratwurst. We ended up sharing the market salad (purslane, corn, tomatoes, buttermilk dressing) and the fried green tomato and egg sandwich. The sandwich came with crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-centered fries, specked with flaky salt chunks. It was a darling lunch. Diner even has a quarterly magazine that I cannot wait to delve into. I then proceeded to drag my old friend up and around Williamsburg, making a quick coffee stop at Bakeri and heading back to Manhattan via the 4$ East River Ferry.

Tonight as I was brainstorming dinner ideas, that market salad with purslane (which, I believe is an edible weed) was still in my thoughts. It was just so satisfying. And it definitely counter-acted those delicious salty fries that I was eating, and those AMAZING sloppy joes that I made for dinner last night (on a toasted English muffin, with tortilla chips and roasted broccoli).

Israeli couscous in a salad. My dinner (not to be confused with Diner). My family used to call Israeli couscous “octopus eggs.” I still don’t know why that never irked me. Add some nectarines and dried sour cherries. Feta cheese and garbanzo beans. With cubed hacked cucumbers, slivered radishes, and spinach leaves. A cool crunchy sweet and savory salad. While I appreciate a nice homemade dressing, I am too lazy in the comfort of my own home and almost always opt for a drizzle of balsamic and olive oil with flaky salt and course ground pepper. It never fails me.

Oooo, and I want to tell you about a few of the things that I have been making this last week or so:

Homemade Pizza. It was quite good, however I went a tad overboard with the fresh pulled mozz. And my dang oven likes to burn things very quickly and set off the smoke alarm. Needless to say, I still need to perfect my pizza making and my fix my old, has-a-mind-of-its-own oven before I give you a recipe. BUT, a tip from me to you is to always throw a dash of cornmeal on the pan before baking. Texture, baby, it’s all about texture.

I mentioned Sloppy Joe’s earlier. Go to Ree’s website. Make her sloppy joe’s. Read her book, “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.”

I also mentioned my wacko oven earlier. I was trying to make these cookies from David Lebovitz. I only baked off 4 of them tonight. I caught them just before my oven was about to cinch them to burnt smithereens. They were chewy and crispy and chocolaty and perfect with milk. I still have dough in my fridge. I am going to figure this oven mishap out.

In the meantime, Couscous.

Israeli Couscous Salad

1 box of Israeli Couscous

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 block of feta, cubed

1/2 cup dried sour cherries

1/4 of an English cucumber, cubed

1/2 a large nectarine, cubed

2 small radishes, quartered and thinly sliced

1-2 large handfuls of fresh spinach

salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

1. Make your couscous according to the directions on the box. (toast the couscous in a pot, pour boiling water over it, simmer until done).

2. Have all of your add-ins chopped and ready to go. Add the couscous and toss. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic and add salt and pepper.

**A poached or hard-boiled egg sounds delightful if you are looking to boost up the protein in this salad.

Quick Dinner: Charred Corn, Zucchini Slaw, Black Bean, and Feta Tacos

1 Aug


Last night I made some quick tacos for dinner. I think my go-to summer vegetable this year has definitely got to be corn. I’ve been using it in everything I make from savory to sweet. For the tacos, I charred the corn over and open flame on my stove-top. It sizzled and popped and suddenly there were beautiful char marks all over my corn. It was the perfect addition to my vegetarian tacos.

(blurry photo, delicious charred corn, about to be sauteed into an oniony garlic mess)

I love the crunchy zucchini match-sticks and the salty cheese. I love the “grilled” corn and onions and the creamy black beans. And the hot sauce definitely makes the tacos complete.

SmittenKitchen has got some nicer photos than I and she also has a nice array of mis-en-place and step-by-step photos for you to gawk at. Check her out!

These tacos are an easy throw-together dinner that you could make for 1, 2, 3, 4 people or a huge crowd. These won’t overheat your kitchen in the summer time (no oven necessary, just a quick saute and you are done) and are super filling (you won’t miss the meat).

Throw together some margaritas or a fruity Pimm’s cup to sip alongside your tacos, and you’ve got yourself a party.

And if you are left with loads of extra corn tortillas, you could make migas, which I am sooo wanting right now.


Quick Charred Corn, Zucchini Slaw, Black Bean, and Feta Tacos

adapted from SmittenKitchen

1 small zucchini

1-2 limes

salt

2 ears corn

a dollop of butter and a splash of olive oil

1/2 large onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

feta cheese, crumbled

black pepper

hot sauce

corn tortillas

1. Slice your zucchini into thin match-sticks. You can take a peeler and peel thick ribbons down the long side of the zucchini. Stack the ribbons and cut them crosswise into thin matchsticks. Toss in a bowl with the juice of half a lime and some salt. Set aside.

2. Take the husk off your corn. Heat an open gas-stove flame and char the two ears of corn until well-blackened but not completely burnt. You will probably, quickly, notice that corn likes to pop and snap, occasionally spraying you with splats of corn. It will all be okay, and the char-taste is worth it. Remove cobs from heat, and when cool enough to handle, shave off kernels using a large knife. Set aside.

3. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Melt a small dollop of butter and splash of oil together and once hot, add the onion. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the corn kernels and sauté until corn is just cooked through, about three to five minutes. Season with salt and chilli powder. Squeeze more lime over it.

4. To heat the tortillas: Coat the bottom of a cast-iron skillet with olive oil and wipe it out so on the thinnest slick remains. Heat the skillet on high. Once hot, cook a tortilla for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side, until lightly blistered. Repeat with remaining tortillas but if your skillet is well-seasoned, no need to repeat the oiling process.

5. Fill each taco with a bit of the zucchini mix. Fill with a few small spoonfuls of the corn mixture. Top with a spoonful of black beans and crumbled cheese. Add some fresh ground pepper. Serve with an extra lime wedge on the side and whatever fixings you like (sour cream, avocado wedges, hot sauce…).

Quiche Me!

28 Jun

WHAT?! I used heavy cream, butter, and cheese all in one dinner dish? Yes, yes I did. I managed to throw in some dark leafy greens and mushrooms to balance out my heart attack give this dish a nice color/texture/flavor/vitamin boost (I also roasted some asparagus to serve as a side).

This savory pie is called a quiche.

You’re house will smell amazing. You are going to have all the neighbors knocking at your door. You are going to (want to) pick at the cheesy top and buttery crust. You are probably going to go back for seconds. You can totally use whatever veggies you want and you can totally add bacon or salami or sausage to this. You can eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and/or a snack. You can bring this to a party. You can make it for yourself.

Pie crust. Cheese. Deep colorful vegetables. A meal for the gods.


Quiche Me! Crust (Pate Brisee)

From SmittenKitchen, originally from Martha Stewart

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cold and cut into small cubes

2-3 tablespoons ice cold water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Form dough into a single ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator, and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Quiche Me! The Filling: Onion, Mushroom, Kale

Makes 1 8-inch tart pan

1 recipe pate brisee (see above)
1 onion, sliced thin
balsamic vinegar, to taste
about 6 white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped
1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
2 eggs
1/4 cup grated Gruyere, Swiss, and/or Jarlsberg cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out your chilled crust as quickly as possible on a lightly-floured surface until is about 2 inches large all around than your pie pan. Either reverse the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the mold or fold it into quarters and lay it over the mold, unfolding it. Press the dough lightly into the bottom of the pan, lifting the edges and working it gently down into the mold. Trim off excess dough and press the edges into the pan. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

Bake your crust for about 9 minutes in the oven. Pull it out, sprinkle with a bit of cheese and let it cool while you prepare your filling.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

Saute your onions in some olive oil and add some salt. Add a dash of balsamic then set your sauteed onions in a bowl. In the same pan you just used, add the mushrooms. Add a tiny pat of butter and saute until starting to get golden brown. Add the kale and stir. Add back the onions.

Mix together your cream and eggs. Add some black pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg. Add your sauteed veggies. Pour into your pan and top with more grated cheese.

Set on a sheet pan and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, until puffed and golden.

CHECK OUT MY CHEESY VEGGIE PIE, WITH SALAMI, HELD TOGETHER BY EGGS AND A SPLASH OF MILK